Double or single pump?

[K1990]

My best friend had her little boy about 3 weeks ago and wants to start pumping.  We were looking at pumps online and she isn't willing to pay any more than like $180 or so for a pump.  Is there really a need for a double pump or are you fine with just one?

[sweetangel7]

This is OT BUT like on the other post, Joy said that you seem concerned about your friend and you devote a lot of your time finding answers for her...instead of getting the answers second hand through you, you should encourage her to join!  There are many forums other than this one that a new mom could benefit from such as maternal and child community, breast feeding community....

[worriedbabe]

i'm a manual girl. i tried a pump with my first born and it HURT LIKE HELL. i've never gone near one since.

[SoCalTricia]

I used the Pump in Style when I had my son. It was awesome. It can be a single or double pump. Double was great when I was pumping during a break at work...single was great when I was pumping while driving home...lol. If you need a GOOD pump because you're going back to work and will be pumping frequently, I'd say spend the money on a Pump in Style. If it's for the occasional night out or shopping or whatever, a single is fine. The best single pump I ever used was the Avent hand pump...nice when you didn't have an electrical outlet or car lighter.

[GRose]

In Wisconsin we have the WIC program and if you are nursing and in need of a pump they will give you one. That's how my sister got hers 5 years ago, it was the medela in style pump and it is the one I use too, it works great.
I'm sure it is the same thing that mj_mommy is talking about,

[mj_mommy_manda]

Also I dont know anything about your friends insurance situation but just wanted to add that in my state (not sure about others) if you show taht your interested in breastfeeding they will send you a free breast pump through medicaid.  Its not a chincy little cheapo one either. I got the Medela instyle (I think...) it comes in a greenish cloth portable bag, it has little freezer packs for storing pump milk.  Its basically portable.  I used it and LOVED it.  I'll be using it again in the future.  As for now It has already been through 2 of my friends that have had babies and we have another girl in line to use it next month.  

[slzerbst]

I was talking with one of my friends who attempted to brest feed and she advised me to use the eletronic double brest pump because having only one pump will cause you to spray thus losing milk.  Also if you're looking to pump yourself, she said that it's quit painfull and there is no way to ulternate the pressure that is being put onto you nipple/brest because you're sequezing the handle.  

I regersted for a mini-pump that you can get at walmart for 99.00 bucks or close to that.  So my advice is if you can't aford the one that is more than 180 then you could choose to use this one.  However, the bottles are small, so you wont be able to get alot of milk at one time, however, you can always empity the bottles into a bigger one and continue pumping.  Also the one that I was looking at comes with different adapters for different bottles so you could just use that and pump directly into those bottels.  So good luck, I hope this helps a little.

[kjbutcher]

if she is going to pump here and there, then I guess the single is ok.  If pumping is going to be her thing for the next several months, double is definately the way to go.  It is not like you can not breast feed and pump once a day.  It just will not work.  so if she is going to pump and feed she will be connected to these things at least 4-6 times a day for 30 mins each side.  If she can commit to 4-6 hours per day just for pumping than single will be fine.  I know I had to hold the bottles the whole time so 4-6 would have come out of baby or sleep time...not willing to do that much.  I think she will eventually give up with the single pump or count it as a loss and go out a buy the double.  i would say go with the double fromt he beginning if she is committed to it...or call and rent from the hospital for a few months.

[GRose]

They also have bras specifically designed for double pumps so that you can pump hands free, I never used one but it seems like a good idea.

[GRose]

I agree that a double pump is best. Like spade said when one breast is being "pumped" the other one will start to spray, so all of that milk is being wasted. It will also be double the time pumping if she goes with a single.

[spade22]

I highly recommend the double pump.  As Chantal21 mentioned, it will save a significant amount of time.   Additionally, when ones breasts become engorged with milk and one side is pumped, the other side can sometimes spontaneously start leaking (or SPRAYING) milk!  The double pump is very useful to prevent this from happening.

As a side note: Has your friend looked into renting a hospital-grade pump?  These are excellent - they are much more effective at extracting milk and some of the cheaper pumps and can often be rented for very reasonable rates on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.  Sometimes, for one reason or another, a mother who wishes to nurse and/or pump is not able to do so, so renting a pump is a good option to "see how things turn out" without spending a lot of money up front.  For example, one lady I know of had her heart set on nursing and pumping but had problems with severe engorgement that prevented her from doing so.  She was not able to find a remedy and had to switch to formula.

[chantal21]

I find it really easy to use at home (don't really have to cover up and be discreet about it lol), but if for some reason I had to pump in public (which was rare), I would do one at a time so I could have an extra hand to cover myself up with a blanket and make sure it didn't fall and I could control the pump as well. I don't have one of those nursing covers, so maybe that would make it easier to pump in public and be modest at the same time! (Just thought about that) But all in all, I find the double pump very practical for me.

[K1990]

I guess it isn't as much of a cost issue if it is worth having a double.  Is it easy to use a double or is it hard to get them both going at once?

[chantal21]

I guess it really depends. I have a double pump and the reason I like the double pump is you can do both sides at once and it's much faster. (cuts the time in half) But I suppose you could always do a single pump if you aren't pressed for time and it just takes15-20 min. on each side. I just thought it was more practical in my mind to get a double pump, but I could see if you want to save some money to just get a single pump. I actually have the medela pump in style (comes in a discreet black bag) and I found it on craigslist. My hubby didn't want to spend 300 bucks for a new one so I searched around and found one. Met up with the lady who said she had only used it once or twice and didn't have a need for it. I got it for $80!! All you have to do is sterilize everything really well or go out and buy new parts for it. You can find most of the parts at babies r us or target. It works like it's brand new and I love it. I will be using again with this baby.